The Dog Fence by James Woodford

Author:James Woodford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS004000, TRV004000
ISBN: 9781921834912
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2004-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

LAKE FROME

The size of the Marree Hotel is proof of how important beer is to the town. It is a grand and traditional outback pub of two storeys, with a verandah that runs the entire length of the top floor. Parked out the front were a dozen battered four-wheel-drives and several newer models belonging to tourists. Two kelpies obediently sat outside. Inside, the main drinking bar seemed small and crowded, but behind the cockies and workers I could see a maze of corridors and stairs leading to old billiard rooms and bedrooms.

Nervous and overawed by the sea of tough faces, I introduced myself to Shane Oldfield, a rugged wiry character, who seemed to be an important Marree identity. I asked him what he thought about the Dog Fence, especially the new waist-high electric fence on the southern boundary of Clayton Station. ‘The best thing since sliced bread,’ he said. ‘I’ve got half the dogs I once had.’ With the old netting fence, he explained, dingoes couldn’t get through and they would congregate up against the wire. Now, according to Oldfield, they pass over or between the electrified wires. ‘When seasons get dry in the Simpson they feed down towards the south. They used to come up hard against the fence and stop there until they took a bait, got stuck in a trap or we shot them. Now I haven’t got half the problem. I reckon the dingo is a beautiful animal in his own right but when it gets dry and they’re having trouble finding food they can be a problem.’

I asked him if he knew the next grazier that I wanted to meet, Michael Sheehan of Moolawatana Station. ‘He’s right next door,’ Oldfield replied. As luck would have it that day all the graziers in the Lake Eyre south drainage basin had attended a meeting across the hall to discuss water management. In 1977, 86 billion litres of water was wasted from 200 bores in South Australia—the water came to the surface at the wells and poured across the desert, creating artificial wetlands and havens for feral animals. No one understands how long the resource can last and what the level of sustainable usage is. By 1996, through a program of capping and rehabilitating old bore sites, the loss had been nearly halved to 48 billion litres, yet this is still a staggering amount of water. The meeting was to discuss plans to see even greater controls on artesian water, perhaps even a bill for its use. Everyone whom I was planning to call on in the next few days was in that room—it was a one-stop cocky shop.

I pulled up a chair behind Michael Sheehan and waited until he noticed me. We soon started talking about the possibility of me driving along the section of the Dog Fence that runs through his property. Sheehan gave me permission and instructions on how to make it through. There was only one ‘really hairy’ location: a place where the

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